Why blurring the lines puts PCVs in dangerWhen the National Call to Service legislation was amended to include Peace Corps in December of 2002, this country had not yet invaded Iraq and was not in prolonged military engagement in the Middle East, as it is now. Read the story of how one volunteer spent three years in captivity from 1976 to 1980 as the hostage of a insurrection group in Colombia in Joanne Marie Roll's op-ed on why this legislation may put soldier/PCVs in the same kind of danger. Latest: Read the ongoing dialog on the subject.

PC establishes awards for top VolunteersGaddi H. Vasquez has established the Kennedy Service Awards to honor the hard work and service of two current Peace Corps Volunteers, two returned Peace Corps Volunteers, and two Peace Corps staff members. The award to currently serving volunteers will be based on a demonstration of impact, sustainability, creativity, and catalytic effect. Submit your nominations by December 9.

Peace Corps at highest Census in 30 yearsCongratulations to the Peace Corps for the highest number of volunteers in 30 years with 7,810 volunteers serving in 71 posts across the globe. Of course, the President's proposal to double the Peace Corps to 15,000 volunteers made in his State of the Union Address in 2002 is now a long forgotten dream. With deficits in federal spending stretching far off into the future, any substantive increase in the number of volunteers will have to wait for new approaches to funding and for a new administration. Choose your candidate and start working for him or her now.

'Celebration of Service' a major successThe Peace Corps Fund's 'Celebration of Service' on September 29 in New York City was a major success raising approximately $100,000 for third goal activities. In the photo are Maureen Orth (Colombia); John Coyne (Ethiopia) Co-founder of the Peace Corps Fund; Caroline Kennedy; Barbara Anne Ferris (Morocco) Co-founder; Former Senator Harris Wofford, member of the Advisory Board. Read the story here.

PC apologizes for the "Kasama incident"The District Commissioner for the Kasama District in Zambia issued a statement banning Peace Corps activities for ‘grave’ social misconduct and unruly behavior for an incident that occurred on September 24 involving 13 PCVs. Peace Corps said that some of the information put out about the incident was "inflammatory and false." On October 12, Country Director Davy Morris met with community leaders and apologized for the incident. All PCVs involved have been reprimanded, three are returning home, and a ban in the district has since been lifted.

The Peace Corps LibraryPeace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 30,000 index entries in 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related stories in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can find hundreds of stories about what RPCVs with your same interests or from your Country of Service are doing today. If you have a web site, support the "Peace Corps Library" and link to it today.

Friends of the Peace Corps 170,000 strong170,000 is a very special number for the RPCV community - it's the number of Volunteers who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961. It's also a number that is very special to us because March is the first month since our founding in January, 2001 that our readership has exceeded 170,000. And while we know that not everyone who comes to this site is an RPCV, they are all "Friends of the Peace Corps." Thanks everybody for making PCOL your source of news for the Returned Volunteer community.

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Story Source: ABC

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Australia

Australia has governmetn supported volunteer service programs already ... Following is an excerpt from www.ausaid.gov:

Volunteer Organisations supported by the Australian Government:

While AusAID is unable to directly assist people interested in volunteer work placements, we do encourage those interested to contact the following organisations for further information on how to make a contribution as a volunteer.

Youth Ambassadors for Development One of the Australian Government's most popular initiatives is the Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development volunteer program for young Australians aged 18-30.

Each year around 230 young people travel to developing countries in our region to work for up to a year on programs designed to tackle poverty through the transfer of Australian expertise.

Priority sectors for the AYAD program are health, education, governance, rural development, environment and infrastructure.

Australian Volunteers International Australian Volunteers International (AVI) recruits, prepares and supports Australian volunteers who live and work in developing communities. As an international volunteer sending agency supported by AusAID, AVI and its volunteers are committed to achieving long term development, poverty alleviation and sustainable livelihoods.

AVI works with partner organisations in host communities to ensure that placements respond to locally-identified needs. Volunteers are skilled professionals from the education, health, community development, finance, IT, communications, rural development, trade and engineering sectors.

AVI provides short and long-term volunteer placements in Asia, the Pacific, Africa and the Middle East.

Volunteering for International Development from Australia Volunteering for International Development from Australia (VIDA) is a program that enables Australian citizens and permanent residents aged 18 and over to undertake volunteer assignments in Asia and the Pacific to make a tangible contribution to sustainable development in host countries.

The program provides pre-departure training, in-country support and post-return debriefing to volunteers undertaking development assignments lasting between 1 and 36 months.

As part of the Australian Government's overseas volunteer and international aid programs, VIDA, in cooperation with partner organisations, aims to assist developing countries to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development through skills transfer, institutional strengthening and capacity building.

* Countries to which volunteers are sent change according to Government priorities.

See also:

Volunteers and Australian Development Cooperation [PDF file - 260KB] Australian Government policy statement describing the principles guiding Government support for volunteers placed overseas. Aid Close Up - Stories and People

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